


Time grabs you by the wrist

by superatomic



Series: Coldatom Month 2019 [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 10:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18281318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superatomic/pseuds/superatomic
Summary: Prompt: DC meets Marvel





	Time grabs you by the wrist

**Author's Note:**

> Len is 20 but still training, Ray and Kendra are 18 .

They shouldn't be here, this was so beyond their control and training. What on earth had possessed them to come out against these Sentinels without any true X-Men among them?

“Oculus, on your six!”

Spinning to face the incoming blast, he threw up a shield to protect himself, slowing time for the energy bolt, and making sure it dissipated harmlessly instead of striking him. His powers we by no means under complete control or at their full potential. In fact, he was surprised that had even worked, having only been at Xavier’s school for six months. Len probably should have a little more faith in himself, just as his roommate always said. But it was difficult to prove yourself when you were fighting giant robots that wanted you dead.

It was the same roommate who had shouted the warning, and Leonard shot him a look of thanks, still awestruck that the genial guy could turn into a giant and crush bots like they were tin cans. Or attempt to, Raymond or Atom as he was known, hadn’t done too well in the few combat classes they had taken. He was an engineer and physicist at heart, not a fighter. Though he was brave, or reckless, the two went hand in hand after all. But he was more concerned with the well-being of the rest of his team than himself.

Ray was the type of person who would throw themselves on a grenade to protect others. So Leonard shouldn't have been shocked when he saw the young hero battling with one of the huge robots that had gotten too close to the school. Atom was in his giant form and was holding his own in the fight, having managed to crush one of the Sentinel’s primary weapons, and the thing was sparking like crazy. The next second seemed to stretch as the robot’s dying move was to blast Ray, and Atom, too preoccupied ripping the Sentinel’s head off, caught the energy beam right in the chest. 

Leonard's shout was full of anger as Raymond crumpled, falling to the ground and shrinking to his normal height as he impacted with the grass. Moving to his roommate’s side, he barely noticed that the fight around them had suddenly paused. 

“Ray!” Leonard's hands hovered over the wound in his friend's chest, the training uniform had offered no protection against real firepower. The flimsy armor fine for the Danger Room, but completely useless in an actual battle, like an air soft vest against a bullet. Raymond was a mess and yet somehow, impossibly, he laughed - or attempted to. 

“I must be dying.. You called me Ray.” He grimaced then, face turning paler by the second. 

“Don't--” Leonard reined in his frustration and softened his tone, “save your energy.”

“...hey… it's okay… better me than you.”

“No it isn't. How can you think so little of yourself?!” Leonard didn't bother hiding his frustration this time. He hated how self sacrificing Ray was. Always putting others first no matter the cost to himself. 

“Leonard… I’m… I _like_ you.”

“What?!” Leonard looked at his roommate and friend in shock only to find Ray's eyes had closed. “Ray? Raymond?” Feeling for a pulse, Leonard's veins turned to ice when he didn't find one and his rage grew. 

Shaking his head, his hands curled into fists as the sounds of battle again filled his ears. Reaching out, he let time flow through him, lowering the mental barrier Professor Xavier had helped him construct. Finding each of the Sentinels’ timelines, he pulled, stripping back the years of destruction until he found their beginnings and shredded them. Wiping them out. In a matter seconds those still fighting disintegrated to dust. 

“Ray..” Kendra’s voice brought him back to the present and he turned to see the young woman crouched at Ray's side, her large wings arching over his body protectively. 

“This is wrong.” Leonard's voice was hard, he barely recognized it, even as he spoke. “I can make it right.”

“Leonard..?” Kendra’s eyes were full of sadness as she fixed her gaze on him, but there was concern in her tone. Maybe even fear.

Everyone in their age group knew how powerful he was, how even the teachers were apprehensive of it. One slip and he could change history or even the future irreparably. 

In that moment, he didn't care. 

Again he reached out through time, eyes closing as he concentrated on just one timeline, Ray's. Seeing a faded future, silver and ghostly in comparison to the vibrant colour of his past. Both ends were severed and he gathered them together, brow furrowed in effort as he wove the tattered fibres back into one solid line. It was stubborn and drained him more that he expected, leaving him with a headache so severe he saw black and red blotches dancing in his vision when he finally opened his eyes.

Kendra’s gasp, and amazed repetition of his name, followed swiftly by Raymond's told him everything he wanted to hear. Fighting the pain in his head, he focused instead on Ray's beautiful brown eyes as they blinked up at him, disorientated. 

“I like you too.” Leonard spoke softly, taking Ray's left hand in both of his own, letting his eyes wander to the angry red and purple bruising across the other’s chest. A reminder of what had happened.

A smile far too warm and excited for a battlefield spread across Raymond's face and he struggled to lean up on his elbows. Wincing as his body protested, he glanced down. “There was a… hole… I…”

“Died. Ray, you _died_. Leonard brought you back.” Kendra’s voice was wobbly, as if fighting back tears, but there was no fear present as she smiled at Leonard. 

Ray was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, then another smile pulled at his lips, “you must _really_ like me.”

“Idiot.” Leonard shook his head, relief and fondness taking the place of the frustration that would usually tinge the word. He frowned slightly as Ray pulled his hand free of his grasp, but the expression eased as Raymond gently cupped his cheek instead, leaning up, impossibly close. 

“ _Your_ idiot now,” Ray promised, before pressing a delicate kiss to Leonard’s lips.


End file.
